CJ says undecided on full bench for ‘Allah’ appeal

(MM) – Chief Justice Tun Arifin Zakaria declined today to commit to a full bench for a possible Federal Court hearing for the “Allah” case, saying the decision was premature as it remains to be seen if the case will be heard.

But he has also assigned a five-man bench to hear the Catholic Church’s application for leave to appeal the appellate court’s decision on February 24, news portal Malaysiakini reported.

“It depends on whether the leave is granted or not. I don’t think we should answer hypothetical questions,” Arifin was quoted as saying in the report.

“We’d have to give leave first. We have not decided whether to give leave or not… This is a leave application, we have to go stage-by-stage. We cannot jump.”

Arifin made the remarks during the launch of Legal Year 2014 in Putrajaya this morning.

Yesterday, DAP national chairman and veteran lawyer suggested that the case be heard by a full-bench of the Federal Court owing to the significance and importance of the issue.

He added that the full turnout was necessary to bring closure to the contentious issue, which is driving a wedge between Malaysia’s faith communities.

The tussle over “Allah” arose in 2008 when Catholic newspaper the Herald was barred by the Home Ministry from using the Arabic word.

The Catholic Church had contested this in court and won a High Court decision in 2009 upholding its constitutional right to do so.

Putrajaya later appealed the decision and successfully overturned the earlier decision when the a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal ruled in October that “Allah” was not integral to the Christian faith.

While the case itself is technically restricted to the Herald, much wider implications have already been seen despite authorities’ attempt to limit the fallout to the case.

Last week, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and seized over 300 copies of Malay- and Iban-language bibles containing the word “Allah”, while two BSM officials were also arrested.